NYC prosecutors seek 23-year term for drug lord

NEW YORK (AP) – Federal prosecutors in New York have asked a judge to impose a 23-year prison sentence on a Jamaican drug kingpin who admitted his leadership in an international crime ring.

Christopher Coke pleaded guilty to racketeering and assault charges in August. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.

According to The New York Times (http://nyti.ms/zrCQEn), prosecutors filed a sentencing memorandum late Wednesday. They said Coke was so powerful in Jamaica that he had “virtual immunity from the reach of law enforcement” there.

They said Coke’s drug trafficking ring moved guns and drugs between Jamaica and the United States, ordered murders, shootings and beatings.

In a letter to the judge in September, Coke accepted responsibility for his actions and asked for a sentence “below the guideline range.”